OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 47, 7 March 1997

HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT VISITS LATVIA. Arpad Goncz began an official two-day
visit to Riga on 6 March with talks with President Guntis Ulmanis, which
focused on the enlargement of the European Union and NATO, BNS reported.
Latvian Interior Minister Dainis Turlais and Hungarian Interior Ministry
Political Secretary Gabor Vilagos signed an agreement on combating
terrorism, drug trafficking, and organized crime. Education and Science
Minister Juris Celmins and Hungarian Culture and Education Deputy State
Secretary Peter Medgyez signed an agreement on cooperation in education,
culture, and science. Latvia also submitted draft agreements on the
promotion and protection of investments, avoidance of double taxation,
and free trade relations. -- Saulius Girnius

SLOVAK JUNIOR COALITION PARTNER SAYS "NO" TO NATO. Association of
Workers Deputy Chairman Jan Borovsky on 6 March announced that his party
will ask its supporters to vote "no" on NATO membership in the upcoming
referendum, Slovak media reported. The party is also against the second
and third referendum questions, which ask Slovaks whether they favor
deploying nuclear weapons and having foreign military bases in Slovakia.
Only the ethnic Hungarian parties are encouraging their supporters to
vote "yes" on all three questions. Also on 6 March, U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State John Kornblum visited Bratislava where he noted the
Slovak government's unwillingness to heed certain recommendations,
particularly on the passage of the minority language law. Meeting with
Kornblum, Slovak Foreign Ministry State Secretary Jozef Sestak
criticized the U.S. government report on NATO expansion, especially the
section comparing the observance of democratic principles in Slovakia
with the situation in Albania, CTK reported. -- Sharon Fisher

OPPOSITION LEADER, PROTESTING FARMERS TO ATTEND FAR-RIGHTIST RALLY.
Gyorgy Giczy, chairman of the opposition Christian Democrats has
announced that he will deliver a speech at a rally staged by the far-
right Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIEP) in Budapest on March 15,
one of the country's national days, Hungarian media reported on 6 March.
Istvan Csurka, president of the extra-parliamentary MIEP, said that
protesting farmers in eastern Hungary have also decided to participate
in his rally. In other news, the farmers on 5 March rejected Prime
Minister Gyula Horn's invitation to hold further negotiations on the new
tax and social-insurance code, after government officials seemed
determined to stick to their original plans during a morning
consultation. The farmers announced on 6 March that a convoy of 300
tractors will drive through downtown Budapest on 10 March to further
protest the government's agricultural policy and legislation. -- Zsofia Szilagy
i
[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Sava Tatic